


At Home

by j_louise



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-27
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-09-01 11:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16764265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_louise/pseuds/j_louise
Summary: Albus and Scorpius move into a quaint Welsh cottage, enjoy each other's company, and try and figure out what exactly is so magical about the place.





	At Home

Albus awoke to slender fingers stroking the nape of his neck, slow and comforting. His first instinct was to stay as still as possible in the hope that the soothing sensation would send him back to sleep. However, he soon couldn’t resist shifting towards the warm body beside him and pressing his face into the soft material he found there. 

“Albus?” said a soft voice next to him, the fingers on his neck sliding upwards and carding through his hair. 

“Mmm,” he replied, unable to make his lips move to give a coherent answer. This made the body next to his chuckle, shaking against him annoyingly. Then, suddenly, he wasn’t annoyed any longer because there were soft lips pressing against his neck, and then again, just behind his ear.

“Albus.” the voice said again, breath brushing warmly over Albus’s ear, causing his eyes to flutter open and look at the man leaning over him. He was rewarded by Scorpius’s soft smile greeting him. “Good morning.” Scorpius said, leaning down to press his lips softly against Albus’s.

“Mornin’” Albus replied, not being able to stop himself from smiling up at him. 

It was times like this that Albus wanted to stop time. He’d not had many mornings recently where he was able to wake up to Scorpius. He would normally wake up to an empty bed due to his boyfriend having to rush off early to his job at St Mungo’s or, even worse, he would wake up to a bed in which Scorpius hadn’t even slept that night due to being away on a research project of some sort. Albus knew things would slow down soon enough and they’d be able to settle into domestic life more easily but right now he knew he had to treasure moments like this as they were still few and far between. Especially, he supposed, as they wouldn’t have even been able to afford to move into this beautiful Welsh cottage if it weren’t for Scorpius working so damn hard. 

“Tea?” his boyfriend asked, looking as if he was ready to get up and start the day already. “You can stay in bed while I make it,” he added quickly, laughing at Albus’s torn expression. 

Albus let out a contented sigh, appreciating his boyfriend just that little bit more. “Love you.” he told him, snuggling back into the pillow. 

“I know,” Scorpius told him, sounding amused and kissing him on the forehead, before sliding out of bed and exiting the room. 

As soon as the cold air of the room rushed under the duvet, Albus regretted his decision. He pulled the duvet around him further as the air chilled his exposed skin. He let his eyes drift over the unpacked boxes cluttering up their bedroom as he waited. At least, he thought, they were in no rush today. Scorpius had managed to take a few days off work to assist with the settling in process and Albus had to admit he was looking forward to them immensely. He liked being an adult with the freedom to do what he wanted, and he loved being out of school and living away from his family, but he had to admit it still kind of sucked a lot of the time. The extra responsibilities and lack of free time was something he hadn’t necessarily counted on when he was younger. He supposed he just had to make the most of the moments he did have. As Scorpius entered the room holding two cups of tea and, at some point, having thrown on one of Albus’s knitted jumpers, Albus supposed that these moments weren’t too hard to make the most of. They were pretty perfect as far as he was concerned. 

“So,” Scorpius said, passing Albus his cup of tea and clambering back under the duvet. “What’s on the agenda for today?” 

“Dunno,” Albus said, finally sitting up properly and taking a slurp out of his mug. “You wanna start unpacking?” 

Scorpius made a thoughtful noise as he slid an arm around Albus’s shoulders, fingers tapping out a playful rhythm where they landed. “I don’t know. Maybe in a bit? I’d quite like to just spend some time, you know, just us.” 

Albus smiled, knowing exactly what he meant. “Yeah, good plan. Hey, maybe if we put it off until tomorrow we can rope our families into helping us.”

Their families were both due to visit their new place, after giving them a day to settle in. Albus felt very grateful to them for holding off their excitement for at least one day, allowing them to get used to their new home a little, so he thought Scorpius’s idea to simply spend their time enjoying each other’s company a fantastic one. 

“You know, I think my dad’s going to have a field day sorting all this out. You wouldn’t think it, but he’s got quite the penchant for making things homely.” Scorpius smiled fondly. 

“My mum too. See, we can make everyone happy - we’ll let those two get on with the unpacking and then hang out with my dad under the guise of bonding. He’ll be thrilled.” Albus quipped, only half meaning it. 

“Wow, I had no idea you were such a schemer. Is this what you do, charm everyone into doing your dirty work?” 

“Certainly worked with you.” 

A surprised laugh burst out of Scorpius. “Watch it,” he warned, knocking his shoulder into Albus’s gently, careful not to make tea slop onto the bed sheets.

“Well, didn’t it?” Albus laughed along with him, raising his eyebrows. 

“I suppose you’re right.” Scorpius couldn’t help but lean in and kiss Albus again, a little more deeply this time, feeling his belly do a little flip as he felt Albus relax into him. He had never been so glad about anything as the fact that particular feeling had never gone away. 

“So, what do you want to do, if you don’t want to unpack?” Albus asked, pulling away and snuggling under the covers slightly. 

“You know, I thought maybe we could go for a walk.” Scorpius suggesting, running his fingers gently through Albus’ hair and untangling the knots that had formed as they slept last night. Although he was pretty sure they reformed as soon as he’d untangled them, the feeling seemed to soothe Albus so he didn’t try and stop the habit.

“A walk?” Albus wrinkled his nose unsurely. “Why? It’s November, and it’s cold. Wouldn’t you rather just stay warm in bed with me?” he pressed his lips against Scorpius’ jaw for a moment. A convincing argument, he thought. 

“As pleasurable as that would be,” Scorpius started, even as he sighed and tilted his head slightly to give Albus better access to his jawline. “I think it would be nice to explore the area a little. C’mon Albie, I know you can feel something magical about that forest too. I think we should go and see if we can figure out what it is.” 

Albus considered the proposal as he took another sip of his tea and laid his head against Scorpius’ shoulder. The forest just the other side of their garden fence was part of the reason he’d fell quite so in love with their cottage. As soon as they’d stepped foot on the premises he’d been able to feel something emanating from deep inside the forest, something that felt like it reached out and touched the very core of his magic. It didn’t feel invasive or scary at all, it felt comforting and warm and everything he wanted for their new home. He had turned to Scorpius on that day and knew that his boyfriend felt it too. Now that they were here he had to admit, he was curious to see what lay within the trees. 

“Yeah, you’re right. How about this, you come and shower with me to help me wake up properly, then we’ll go and take a look at the forest?” Albus suggested. 

Scorpius pressed his lips against Albus’ temple, laughing softly. “Deal.” 

Before too long, and once Albus was showered and dressed, Scorpius was winding the longest scarf he owned around Albus’s neck, opening their front door, and linking his gloved fingers in between his boyfriend’s. They took the path that headed around the side of their house and they were soon under the cover of the large trees behind their new cottage. The lack of sunlight made the pathway even colder than it had felt before, and Albus pulled Scorpius’ hand into his pocket along with his own. However, both young men could still feel the draw of magic from deep within the forest, so neither suggested turning back. 

“Albus, I wanted to ask,” Scorpius started, as the leaves crunched satisfyingly under their feet. “How are you finding the move? Are you still managing ok with everything?” 

Since Albus’ brief but painful spell of depression while in their sixth year, Scorpius made absolutely sure to stay aware of his stress levels and do what he could to prevent the risk of it happening again. Albus always said Scorpius didn’t need to feel responsible for his health, and Scorpius knew that was true. He just liked to make sure he was doing what he could to take care of the man he loved. Not only that, but Scorpius had to admit, he was curious about how the presence of the forest was affecting Albus’s mental health. He certainly knew that his stress levels had already gone down since they had moved in. 

“Yeah, I’m doing fine.” Albus seemed to think more about the question for a moment. “Better than I expected, actually. It just feels so right being here with you, I have this sense that everything is going to be entirely ok.” 

Scorpius smiled, squeezing Albus’ hand. “I’m glad. I feel the same.” Magical forest or no magical forest, he was just glad Albus was feeling ok about everything. 

For the majority of the walk, they stayed silent, simply enjoying each other’s company. Even as the path weaved or split in front of them, they let their magic guide them onwards, both somehow knowing they were heading in the right direction. The sense of calm seemed to grow the further they walked, although not in a way that made them sleepy or blur the edges of their consciousness. Scorpius thought it felt somewhat like a clearing of his mind, having clarity of his thoughts in a way he couldn’t remember experiencing for a very long time. Just a sense a peacefulness, of not having to worry. 

Eventually, they came to a particularly thin and twisty bit of path, and Scorpius moved in front of Albus, reluctantly letting their hands slip apart. After carefully maneuvering themselves between a big briar and a rather wide oak tree, Scorpius pushed his way past the branches of a willow tree that seemed to be entirely overgrown and promptly came to a standstill. 

“Oof,” Albus said as he quickly sidestepped Scorpius to prevent crashing directly into him. “What…” his voice trailed off as he took in the sight in front of him, suddenly understanding exactly why Scorpius had stopped. “Oh.” he said softly, not sure what else to say. 

“Albus,” Scorpius turned and looked at him in wonder. 

Albus just shook his head, sending Scorpius a wide-eyed look identical to the one he was currently on the receiving end of. 

They had just walked into a clearing, the center of which was bathed in sunlight, the warmth spreading all across the grass to the edges of the trees. There was a stream running across the other side of the clearing, a light jangling sound something like a windchime seemed to emanate from the surface. There were large toadstools dotted around the banks of the stream and there seemed to be soft blue lights drifting aimlessly across the whole clearing. Most significantly, as far as Albus could tell, the feeling of calm was coming directly from the trickling water of the stream and it was now far more powerful than it had ever felt before. He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, his fringe flipping up and into his eyes as a result. 

Before he could help himself, Albus had strode across the clearing and stood directly in the warm sunlight. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and taking a moment just to sit with what he was experiencing. After a few moments, he let his eyes open slowly and he turned to face Scorpius, who hadn’t moved an inch and was still staring at him with wide-eyed amazement. 

“Scor?” Albus asked quietly, “You okay?” 

Scorpius nodded, before striding forwards and taking hold of his hand again. “Yes, perfectly fine. Just a bit surprised, you know, but I think that’s fair considering the circumstances. Wow. This is amazing. Isn’t it?” 

Albus smiled at Scorpius’ babbling, a sure sign that he was feeling alright. “Any idea what this place is, why it’s here? Anything?” He felt like if anyone knew about strange magical places in the woods, it’d be Scorpius. He’d undoubtedly have read about it in some book at some point. 

“Yeah, I think so,” said Scorpius, started to walk slowly towards the stream. “I think I read about a place like this in a book at some point.” Albus grinned knowingly, following Scorpius down to the sound of the rushing and jangling of the water. “I think it was a book about Welsh legends. There’s an old story about an enchantment placed upon a river in Wales to bring peace upon the town. There was never any confirmation that it was real though, I thought it might just be one of those old wives tales. You know, a Babbity Rabbity sort of thing.” 

“Well,” Albus said, slowly bending down to dip his fingers in the water and feeling a wave of calm flood through him. “I think this is your confirmation.” 

“I just- I can’t believe it. I love you so much. Do you know that?” Scorpius’ voice had taken on a more serious tone, causing Albus to stand up and look at him. 

“I love you too. Are you okay?” he reached out to brush Scorpius’ hair away from his forehead, soothing him. 

“Yes, I am, I just sort of can’t believe how lucky I am. I mean after everything...and now we’re here, and we live together and we live here. And it’s as if this place is here protecting us and making sure we’re okay.” Scorpius laughed slightly, shaking his head. “I’m not sure I deserve all this.” 

“Scorpius Malfoy,” Albus sighed, placing his hands on Scorpius’s cheeks and resting his forehead against his boyfriends’. “I have never known anyone in the world who deserves to be happy more than you do. You are wonderful.” He placed a kiss on his cheek. “And lovely.” He placed a kiss on his other cheek. “And perfect.” He finished, before pressing his lips against Scorpius’s in a soft and lingering kiss. 

“You’re too good to me. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.” Scorpius said, pulling back and sharing a small and vulnerable smile with him. 

“Now you’re just trying to get another kiss.” Albus teased, tapping him gently on the nose. 

Scorpius shrugged, stepping closer again and sliding his arms to rest comfortably around Albus’s waist. “I mean, I wouldn’t be complaining.” 

“Well, if you insist.”Albus murmured softly and, letting his eyes flutter shut, he leaned forward to let his lips press against Scorpius’s once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I fancied writing something that was almost entirely un-angsty and this is what I ended up with. Hope it was tooth-rotting enough for you!


End file.
